Roller provided with speed controlling mechanism for articles being conveyed on a roller conveyor

ABSTRACT

A roller equipped with a speed controlling mechanism for use in a roller conveyor having a group of many free rollers in alignment between frames. The motion of an article being conveyed on the rollers is transmitted to the inside of the roller and operates a generator as the roller is turned. If desired a speed change mechanism can be provided. The electromotive force generated by the generator is supplied to an electromagnetic brake, by which electrical braking force is produced to effect regularion of the speed control of the roller.

United States Patent 91 Moritake 1 Jan. 30, 1973 [54] ROLLER PROVIDED WITH SPEED CONTROLLING MECHANISM FOR ARTICLES BEING CONVEYED ON A ROLLER CONVEI OR [75] Inventor: KoitiMoritake,Takatsuki,Japan [73] Assignee: Kabushiki Kaisha Takenishi Seisakusho, Sagisu, Fukushima-ku, Osaka, Japan [22] Filed: Aug. 24, 1971 [21] Appl. No.: 174,480

[30] Foreign Application Priority Data Oct. 12,1970 Japan ..45/l0l733 [52] US. Cl ..l93/37, 318/382 [51] Int. Cl ..B65g 13/00, H02p 3/00 [58] Field of Search ..l93/35, 37; 198/127 E;

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,245,510 4/1966 Cowan ..l93/40 FOREIGN PATENTS OR APPLICATIONS France ..3l8/382 Germany ..198/127 E Primary Examiner-Even C. Blunk Assistant Examiner-H. S. Lane Att0rneyE. F. Wenderoth et al.

57 ABSTRACT A roller equipped with a speed controlling mechanism for use in a roller conveyor having a group of many free rollers in alignment between frames. The motion of an article being conveyed on the rollers is transmitted to the inside of the roller and operates a generator as the roller is turned. If desired a speed change mechanism can be provided. The electrometive force generated by the generator is supplied to an electromagnetic brake, by which electrical braking force is produced to effect regularion of the speed control of the roller.

5 Claims, 8 Drawing Figures PATENTEDJAH30 ms 3. 7 1 3; 521

SHEET 1 BF 4 KO IT I MORITAKE INVENTOR ATmRNEYs PATENTEDJAHSOIBB 3.713.521

SHEET 3 [1F 4 KOITI MORITAKE INVENTQR ATTORNEYS PATENTEU JAN 30 I973 SHEET BF 4 KO IT I MORITAKE Al 1 nrnuys ROLLER PROVIDED WITH SPEED CONTROLLING MECHANISM FOR ARTICLES BEING CONVEYED ON A ROLLER CONVEYOR This invention relates to a roller which is used for a conveyor, such as a free roller conveyor or the like. More specifically, this invention relates to a roller by which speed control of articles being conveyed is effected by their movement on the slanting conveyor so as to prevent collision between articles or collision of articles with a terminal stopper, wall, etc. of the conveyor.

Although various suggestions'have been made for speed controlling apparatus for a slanting type free roller conveyor, the fact is that the art has been unable to obtain satisfactory results from the conventional type speed controlling apparatus because of the difference in weight between articles to be conveyed and other factors. In the conventional roller conveyor, for instance, rollers are provided with a mechanical brake the braking force of which is kept as a constant coefficient and therefore the travelling speed of each article is not always constant due to the difference in weight between articles to be conveyed or other factors. Thus, in some cases article s stop outside the fixed position and in the case where an article to be carried is heavy, the desired braking cannot be obtained and a result, the article may overrun and dash violently against a wall, stopper, etc. This involves a danger of the article being broken. Moreover, even if the conventional roller conveyor is equipped with an apparatus for regulating the braking force, when light-weight articles and heavyweight articles are conveyed together on it, collisions between articles or excessive intervals between articles will take place and smooth conveying of articles cannot be obtained.

With the above disadvantages of the conventional roller conveyor in view, the presentinvention has for an object to convey articles at a fixed speed on the conveyor, irrespective of the weight of articles to be carried and other factors, by generating automatically a braking force which corresponds with each article being carried. I I

The nature and advantages of the present invention willbe understood more"clearly from the following description made with reference to the accompanying drawing, in which:

FIG. 1 is a side elevation of a roller conveyor using rollers provided with-the speed controlling apparatus according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a plan view of the roller conveyor shown in FIG. 1, in which on the left side of line X X there is shown a part of the conveyor using short rollers and on the right side is shown a part of the conveyor using long rollers (FIG. I is an embodiment in which both long rollers and short rollers are used).

FIG. 3 is a longitudinal sectional view of a roller according to the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a cross sectional view of the roller shown in FIG. 3, taken on line IV IV.

FIG. 5 is a cross section of a frame, taken on line V V in FIG. 3.

FIG. 6 is a longitudinal sectional view of a different embodiment of the roller conveyor according to the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a detail, on an enlarged scale, of the shaft portion of the roller conveyor shown in FIG. 6.

. an intermediate position of the conveyor or at a position near the terminal of the conveyor) are rollers 2 enclosing therein the speed controlling apparatus according to the present invention. The above-mentioned free rollers have the desired length, i.e., they can be a long roller the length of which corresponds to the distance between parallel frames A as shown on the right side of line X X in FIG. 2 or a short roller the length of which corresponds to the distance between the frame A and a supplementary frame as shown on the left side of line X X in FIG. 2. A free roller conveyor comprising a group of rollers supported between frames A as mentioned above in use is tilted sidewards, where necessary, so that goods G to be carried on the conveyor do not run off the conveyor sideways. Rollers according the present invention can be interposed as desired between conventional rollers, without making any modification in the roller conveyor itself.

In FIG. 3, an outer shell of the roller 2 according to the present invention comprises an inner cylinder 20, a main body 2b with a small gap between itself and the inner cylinder 20, and a rubber cover 2a (in some cases, the surface of the rubber cover is made rough to prevent slipping). Both ends of said main body 2b are supported by bearing stands 30 and 3b, on the inside of which are fitted bearings B on bearing shafts 4a and 4b. Fitted on the inside of these bearing shafts 4a and 4b are support shafts 5a and 5b to support the roller 2. End portions of these support shafts 5a and 5b are mounted in the frame A. The support shafts 5a and 5b are urged to project at all times outwardly from both end surfaces of the roller 2 by means of springs Sa and Sb so that when the support shafts are pressed inwardly, the end surface of the roller 2 and the outer end surface of the support shaft are on almost the same plane. The springs Sa and Sb are supported respectively between a cavity provided at the inner central part of the support shaft 5a and the end surface of a motor M and between a cavity provided at the inner central part of the support shaft 5b and the bearing shaft 4b. Provided at the inner end of the support shaft 5a (or both support shafts 5a and 5b) is an engagingflange 4d, to which the bearing shaft 4 a is non-rotatably connected. One or more flats 5c (refer to FIG. 5) are provided at the periphery of the outer end of said support shaft 5a, and the outer end portion of the support shaft 5a is fitted non-rotatably in a hole Ia made in the frame A and having a shape corresponding to the shape of the shaft. The engagement of the support shaft 5b with the frame A and the spring support system are the same as in the case of the support shaft 5a and the frame A. Provided between the bearing stands 3a and 3b are a generator M, which can be a DC or AC generator, an electromagnetic brake portion and a planetary gear means. The series of elements comprising the support shaft 5a, the bearing shaft 4a, the generator M, an internal gear 6, an electromagnetic iron core 13a and an electromagnetic coil 13b, is fixed in the inner cylinder 20 mounted in the main body 2b. Both endsTbf the inner cylinder 20 are fixed relative to bearing shafts 4a and 4b, which are supported non-rotatably in frames A through the support shafts 5a and 5b. A brake disc 13c is movably mounted in the inner cylinder and is urged by a spring 5 away from electromagnet coil 13b and core 13a. This brake disc 130 is slidably mounted on engagement member 13d which is mounted on the motor shaft Ma. On the portion of the member 13d on the other side of the brake disc 130 from the generator M is a secondary solar gear 9b and a shaft 9c extends from the gear 9b. Lead wires L connect the terminals Ta and Tb of the generator M in series with the electromagnetic coil 13b. In addition the wires L can extend through the cavity of the support shaft 5a to the outside of the roller and be connected to a variable resistor (not shown in the drawing but which can be provided on the main body of the free roller conveyor), so as to regulate the braking force according to the change of resistance of the variable resistor. lt is possible to omit the lead wire L, the resistor, etc. in some cases. Instead of the variable resistor, a limit. switch or other various detecting and measuring apparatuses R can be connected to the tion of the roller 2 whenarticles pass thereover or, in some cases, to detect and measure the weight, speed, etc. of articles passing thereover from the number of revolutions of the roller or to confirm the actual passing of the article. In addition,the operation of various apparatuses connected to said conveyor can be carried out by the combination of relays, limit switches,

etc. v

The roller 2 having the afore-mentioned construction is providedat the right place among a group of rollers on the free-roller conveyor, for example, at places where braking of articles being conveyed isrequired, with conventional ,rollersl at the other place. Accordingly, when an article being conveyed on free rollerscomes to a roller 2 equipped with the speed controlling apparatus according'to the present invention,

theroller -2 turnsin response to the speed of the article,

whereupon'a planetarygear 8a supported on an axle 7a mounted-on bearing-standflb, so that itrevolves as it runs 'aroundtthe inside ofninternalgearzfi and also revolvesron its own axis, :engaging with .the primary sun gear 9a on shaft. 90. A planetary gear 8b supported on an ,axle-,7b projecting from plate 9 d,connected tothe primarysun gear 911, runs around-the inside of the internal gear 6andalso revolves on its own axis, turning the secondary sun gear 9b,'which revolution is transmitted to' the generator shaft Ma to generate power. Electromotive force generated between terminals Ta and Tb'of the generator M is supplied to-the electromagnetic coil.' l3bto magnetizethe electromagnetic iron core 13a. The brake disc l3c on the engaging member 13d revolves with the motor shaft Ma, and is drawn 4 against the compression spring Sbythe force'of iron bodiment, wherein the revolution of the roller is transmittedto the generator M, through the medium of a simple transmitting mechanism 8, without using the differential gear mechanism as shown in FIG. 3.

According to the present invention, the motion of an article to be conveyed is used to generate electricity by the speed controlling apparatus'enclosed in the roller and the electricity is used to actuate magnet'means.

Therefore, the roller accordingto the present invention does not need a power supply from the outside, braking force is increased inside the apparatus according to the 1 present invention by power which' is generated in response to the weight and transferring speed of each article to be conveyed and therefore a braking force accordingto each article is obtained and thus braking is made accurate. The roller according to the present invention can easily be used on a conventional free roller conveyor, with no particular modification. Since the mechanism of the apparatus is contained entirely within the roller, it has the advantage that it requires no outside actuation for it to function.

What is claimed is:

l. A speed controlling'roller for a roller-conveyor having a. plurality of ,free rollers mounted between parallel frames, said speed controlling'roller comprising an outer shell, an electrical-generator mounted within said outer shell and havingan'element fixed relative to the rotation" of the roller, rotation transmission means coupled'betwe'en the outer shell and having another element of the generator for transmitting the rotation of the outer shelldue to the movement of arti- Y which rotation transmission means isa planetarygear means for reducing thespeed of therotati on'of the outer shell before it. is transmitted .to the generator.

3 -'A;.spfied-controlling'roller asvclaimed in claim l; furtherlcor'nprising lead wires" extending from said generator ,t'ogoutside of .said. roller for attachmentto further electrical: control .means, ,whereby the. further control means can beactuated according to the current generated in said generator. a p

,4. A speed controlling roller as claimed in claiml in which saidroller has bearing shafts at each end thereof,

. bearing shafts urging 'said support shafts'out of the bearing shafts.

5.'A-speed controlling roller as-claimed in claim '1 in which said brake means comprises an electromagnetic coil, a magnetic core magnetized according to the current in said electromagnetic coil, and a brake disc of magnetic material fixed to the rotating partsof said roller and movable toward and away from' said magcontact with said magnetic core, and upon generation of a current in said generator which is supplied to said electromagnetic coil, the braking disc is drawn into contact with said magnetic core against the action of said spring means. 5 

1. A speed controlling roller for a roller conveyor having a plurality of free rollers mounted between parallel frames, said speed controlling roller comprising an outer shell, an electrical generator mounted within said outer shell and having an element fixed relative to the rotation of the roller, rotation transmission means coupled between the outer shell and having another element of the generator for transmitting the rotation of the outer shell due to the movement of articles over the outer shell as they move along the conveyor to the generator and driving the generator, and magnetically actuated brake means within said shell electrically coupled with said generator and acting on said outer shell for braking said shell in response to voltage generated by said generator as said outer shell is rotated.
 1. A speed controlling roller for a roller conveyor having a plurality of free rollers mounted between parallel frames, said speed controlling roller comprising an outer shell, an electrical generator mounted within said outer shell and having an element fixed relative to the rotation of the roller, rotation transmission means coupled between the outer shell and having another element of the generator for transmitting the rotation of the outer shell due to the movement of articles over the outer shell as they move along the conveyor to the generator and driving the generator, and magnetically actuated brake means within said shell electrically coupled with said generator and acting on said outer shell for braking said shell in response to voltage generated by said generator as said outer shell is rotated.
 2. A speed controlling roller as claimed in claim 1 in which rotation transmission means is a planetary gear means for reducing the speed of the rotation of the outer shell before it is transmitted to the generator.
 3. A speed controlling roller as claimed in claim 1 further comprising lead wires extending from said generator to outside of said roller for attachment to further electrical control means, whereby the further control means can be actuated according to the current generated in said generator.
 4. A speed controlling roller as claimed in claim 1 in which said roller has bearing shafts at each end thereof, support shafts slidably mounted in said bearing shafts and for mounting on the parallel frames of the conveyor to support the roller thereon, and spring means between the inner ends of the support shafts and the bearing shafts urging said support shafts out of the bearing shafts. 